IX

"So, not exact science?" Nodded Venera in understanding. "On Devas we devote ourselves to meditating, trying to achieve something in between of reincarnation transcendence and Orion Dive, love and happiness is our goal. Overall, we have peaceful and loving mentality, much more suited for lady Gaiya than intensity of Gard." Venera lamented.

"That's harsh." Mars retorted.

"Hey, no sneaky lobbying, told you politics make my girl uncomfortable. And we are here to have fun!" Erot intervened.

"So we are not going to discuss Kronos today?" Asked Venera miffed a bit at his retort.

"Nope."

"What about Kronos?" Gaiya got curious.

"Do you really want to get into politics today? I'm warning you, it's all or nothing." Erot presented her with a choice.

She thought about it for a bit and shook her head.

"No, I'd rather enjoy myself today, those things tend to depress me and I want to go in to the lab tomorrow in good spirits." Gaiya decided that ignorance is bliss for now.

"That's my girl!" Smiled Erot now that the evening was back on track.

Vine and honey kept on flowing, washing down delicious food. Then an impressive assortment of desserts came in, way too excessive for just four people, but apparently all chefs on duty wanted to show off to the vip visitors. You could see exotic elements from quite a few planets reflected on the platters.

Eventually everyone got quite tipsy, and Venera pulled Gaiya into dancing. The girls were doing a mixture of belly dancing, random probably made up elements, and loads of giggles. Meanwhile, the men talked in hush voices while watching the show.

"So I gather she has no idea?" Asked Mars.

"She just woke up last night, she'll have to face it tomorrow, let her enjoy tonight." Answered Erot protectively.

"And Nyx?"

Erot frowned at the name.

"I barely recognize her these days. I thought she was done with Gaiya, but she rushed over like nothing happened, her whole demeanor toward Gard is troublesome." Erot washed down unpleasant memories with vine.

"Do you suppose someone sent her, or there are lingering feelings?"

"Probably a bit of both, it could have came back to her when she saw her again. That was an unusually long dive, younger souls won't stay attached for that long. She could have fallen for her all over again. She became obsessed with Gaiya the first time she saw her before this dive, so that's reasonable to repeat." Erot theorized.

"Things won't stay quiet for long, should we do something about her security?" Asked Mars frowning a bit in concern.

"Orion will keep her physically safe, at most there will be collateral damage around her. I guess their tactics include influence...I wonder if that's why they went after Nyx and perhaps got her entangled, she wasn't political before." Mused Erot with far-away gaze.

"Any way of brining her back if it was forced?"

"Hard to imagine that happening. She and Kali are a unit, or very close to it. I can feel their beliefs and feelings resonate when I see them. She's aloof even from her brother now, hard to initiate a dialogue, we tried for centuries..." Erot answered weakly, sadness showed in his blue eyes.

"So now we wait."

"Yes, lets see how the pieces fall before we play."

They watched unconcerned girls twirl around without a care in the world, after a while joining the fun. Few hour later wobbly and sore Gaiya called it a night.

"Err, baby, I'm tired, home." She slurred.

"Sure thing honey. I guess her alcohol tolerance is non existent again. Well be heading out. Thanks for the evening." Erot begun wrapping things up.

"Nothing like a long nap to detoxify you. Thank you for fun evening!" Answered Venera happily.

"Thank you for this opportunity my friend, this will make things less awkward in coming days. I will see you soon." Mars bid his farewell.

"No need, it was for her peace of mind and comfort." Erot reassured, supporting a Gaiya shaped marionette, eventually giving up on wobbly thing and picking her up to straight up carry her. He carried her to the portal, and just before they beamed down he left the pair saying "I'll see you soon."

He carried her to the aircraft that was waiting just outside, settled her into a seat and went back inside. He re-emerged with a bubbly clear drink in his hand, followed by a diligent staff member.

"Here, drink this hun."

"What is it?" She mumbled.

"It's so that you won't get motion sick, it tastes good too." He reassured.

"Mmmkay, give it to me." She reached for the drink and gobbled up the fruity drink, the fuzz bubbles tickled the back of her throat and fizzed up her nose a bit.

"Ahh, it's pretty tasty, bit too fizzy though."

"The fizz makes miracles, you can relax now."

Erot returned the glass to staff waiting nearby and got in to the aircraft on the other side. The smooth, liquid-silver giant almond begun moving back towards the Bifrost, at much slower pace than they arrived in. Soon, Gaiya's heavy eyelids firmly shut and she was lulled into sound sleep.